New Big East adds three, seals deal with Fox

Mar. 20, 2013
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Butler coach Brad Stevens and his Bulldogs will be competing in their third league in as many seasons as the school moves to the new Big East for the 2013-14 school year. / Brian Spurlock, USA TODAY Sports

by Dan Wolken, USA TODAY Sports

by Dan Wolken, USA TODAY Sports

The "Catholic 7" has grown to the Catholic 10. And Wednesday, they took a major step toward officially becoming the Big East.

As expected, the seven non-football schools that announced a breakaway from the Big East in December officially added Xavier, Butler and Creighton, and celebrated a new media rights deal with Fox during a news conference at News Corp.'s headquarters in New York.

The league, which will keep the Big East name after a negotiation with the football schools, begins play with a 10-team lineup in 2013-14. The league is expected to grow to 12, perhaps as early as 2014-15. The league also will continue to call Madison Square Garden in New York the home for its men's basketball tournament.

The announcement comes a day after the football-playing group, which will rebrand under a new name, finalized a media rights deal with ESPN through the 2019-20 season.

Though the new Big East's plans had been anticipated for several weeks, Wednesday was one of the biggest procedural hurdles in the formation of their league, as the three new additions formally withdrew from their current conferences.

Much work remains, however, including the process to hire a commissioner, assemble a league staff, get an office up and running and go through formal NCAA channels to be recognized as a conference and get automatic qualification to NCAA championships (though men's basketball is the centerpiece, the league will sponsor other sports, including women's basketball, baseball and soccer).

Those logistical issues, plus the complex negotiations with the football-playing group, at first made it seem unlikely the league would form in time for the 2013-14 season. But Fox, which is launching Fox Sports 1 this fall as a would-be competitor to ESPN, wanted the programming sooner rather than later and paid handsomely to get it. Multiple reports have valued the deal at $500 million over 12 years, which would be more money per school for the Catholic 7 than they earned from television in the old Big East.

In return for the Big East name and bypassing the 27-month waiting period for withdrawal, the Catholic schools are leaving behind most of the exit fee money they were due to collect as a result of the recent departures of Syracuse, Pittsburgh, West Virginia and the impending departures of Louisville and Rutgers. That pool of money, as well as most of the NCAA tournament credits, will be split up by the remaining Big East members (UConn, Cincinnati and South Florida) as well as teams joining the league in 2013 (Central Florida, Houston, Southern Methodist, Memphis, Temple) and 2014 (East Carolina, Tulane). Commissioner Mike Aresco said on a conference call Tuesday that the league has not determined how that money will be distributed.

With the addition of Butler, Xavier and Creighton - for Butler, it will be the second consecutive year in a new conference after jumping from the Horizon League to the Atlantic 10 - the new Big East should be among the top basketball leagues in the country. Adding them, however, will have far-reaching effects for a number of other conferences.

Butler and Xavier's departure from the A-10 leaves that league with 12 teams next season. Along with Temple's departure to the unnamed conference and Charlotte heading to Conference USA to start a Football Bowl Subdivision program, a league that put five teams into this year's NCAA tournament will take a major hit in national perception. It's unclear whether the A-10 will try to replace Butler and Xavier, but current members Saint Louis and Dayton are thought to be primary targets if/when the Big East expands again.

"I wish Xavier University and Butler University all the best in their new conference. They are two outstanding universities with outstanding people; our partnership has been mutually beneficial and successful. As a longtime strong A-10 member, Xavier's departure is unfortunate. Butler's departure is a by-product of the chaotic conference realignment environment. BU's association with the A-10 has been a fun ride this year; no regrets from the Atlantic 10 for providing a home for them during the 2012-13 season.

"As a conference, we anticipated this move and are prepared to proactively move forward. The A-10 is strong - we have 16 basketball teams participating in the postseason and will focus on them right now. NCAA Postseason is an exciting time not to be overshadowed by conference realignment.

"Lastly I would like to acknowledge both presidents: Rev. Michael Graham and James Danko for their cooperation and professionalism in their management of this issue. It has been an honor to work with and for them."

Creighton has been a member of the Missouri Valley Conference since 1976 and becomes the first school to leave that league since Tulsa in 1996. Belmont is a likely target to replace Creighton, as maintaining the league's current balance of four private and six public schools is a paramount issue for the remaining members.